I quit buying electric tools from Sears a long time ago, as they seem to
be way overpriced, and frequently poor designs. At least at HF, I
_know_ I'm buying junk (and paying a fair price for it).
However, I can attest that Sear's return policy varies widely from store
to store, and even from salesperson to salesperson. I once got the
royal runaround when trying to return a cracked socket (which I actually
broke without abusing it <g>), but two months later, at the same store,
they replaced a breaker bar that was obviously abused (BFH marks on the
head, pipe marks on the handle) with no questions or hassle whatsoever.
I just walked up to a salesman, showed him the remains, and he handed me
a new one, said "There you go".
It was a long time ago, but my father once got a sparkplug socket
replaced that had been crushed under a loaded semi ! He poured the
crumbs out on the counter, and the clerk handed him a new socket
_before_ asking "How the h*** did you do that ?"
IMO the gradual thickening of Craftsman hand tools over the years is not
so much due to cheaper steel, but rather their policy of replacing even
abused tools. When the return rate on a particular design becomes too
high, they beef it up.
I don't make a habit of abusing my tools, but when I do, I reach for a
Craftsman. "Necessity is a mother" <g>
BTW, if the clerk observes "This tool has been abused", the correct
response is "So ?". The Craftsman guarantee does not exclude abuse,
unless it's been changed in the last few years (and it can't legally be
changed retroactively). This is not true of Snap-on, MAC, etc.
Randall
"Michael D. Porter" wrote:
>
> One of my complaints is that every time I have walked into a Sears store
> in the last twenty years with a broken Craftsman tool in my hand, I got
> an argument. First, the clerk would tell me it was not warranted (and,
> knowing their routine) would say, "it's not a Sears tool, it's a
> Craftsman tool. It has a lifetime guarantee." Then, they would say,
> "but, it's been abused. We don't warrant abuse." I would say, "how can
> you tell it's abuse?" And the simple-minded clerk would say, "well, it's
> broken. That's abuse."
>
> Those companies who sell tools to tradesman who know tools, companies
> who sell tools to them with a lifetime guarantee, don't try that
> routine. Likely, some Sears branches are better than others with regard
> to returns, but having experienced the same line from three different
> stores in three different geographical locales at three different times,
> I conclude that experience of mine to reflect company policy. I don't
> bother with them any longer with respect to hand tools.
>
> And, yeah, I bought an air compressor from them six years ago, one with
> the oil-less compressor pump built into the rear of the motor, and it
> destroyed itself after forty hours of occasional use, one week after the
> warranty expired. I bought the necessary replacement parts at my own
> expense ($75), repaired the compressor, and it failed again,
> catastophically, ten hours later. A twelve-year-old could look at the
> connecting rod and the cylinder-to-connecting rod geometry, and know it
> was a deficient design.
>
> Screw `em. Sears, frankly, is full of bean counters these days. They
> don't know tools, and can't provide a tool which will last a lifetime
> because they are too busy trimming pennies. And, the price of the
> Craftsman line of tools (presumably guaranteed for life) is no bargain.
> And, don't bother trying to find repair parts for twenty-year-old
> Craftsman tools... they typically don't exist.
>
> Cheers.
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